Heart rate variability in relation to psychological factors

Fluctuations in heart rate are related to both physiological and psychological factors. A possible link between those factors has been investigated by examining heart rate variability (HRV) In two groups of subjects characterized by a large difference in psychic state, psychiatric patients and normals, an investigation was conducted into what extent factors of neural cardiovascular control (for example, respiratory arrhythmia and blood pressure oscillations) are reflected in HRV. With help of cluster analysis methods applied to parameters extracted from the HRV power spectra, it was found that four different groups could be identified. The results indicated likely differences in neural cardiovascular control activity in psychiatric patients and normal subjects